Worthy
by MindlessAdri
Summary: A rather lenghty one shot of Maka and Soul filled with angsty fluff for your viewing pleasure.  Maka gets asked out on a date. Soul struggles with coming to terms with why it bothers him so much. Eventually they find who is worthy of whom.   Kinda rough.


AN: Hey there everyone. This is the second time I'm uploading this fic. The only reason I'm doing it is because it had many spelling and other mistakes so in general it's just edited now by my lovely beta.

* * *

><p>The halls of Shibusen Academy were alive and active as the bell signaling the beginning of classes rang. An annoyed Maka Albarn was making her way through the crowded hallways fuming with irritation. Her hay colored pigtails wiping wildly about her face as she stomped off to her first class of the day. Behind her, her partner, Soul Evans, walked unaffected by his meisters attitude, hands in pockets face plastered with his signature uninterested expression.<p>

He sighed, deciding he should probably calm his meister down before anybody got hurt. "Maka," he said from behind her in his gravelly voice. The hallway traffic was beginning to thin as the final bell drew near. "We aren't going to make it. So you can stop parading around like a spoiled kid."

"Shut up, Soul," his meister huffed turning around to point an accusing finger in her weapon's face. "It's your fault were late anyway, because you wouldn't get your lazy butt up!" Recalling the morning's events Maka became all the more frustrated and turned around to storm off. Soul rolled his eyes and quickened his pace to catch up to his meister.

Soul was about to speak her name in another attempt to sooth the angry girl but was surprised to hear a third voice call out to her across the hall. Maka stopped to identify the voice; turning to see another student quickly approaching the two. "Hey Maka," the young man said slightly winded probably not expecting to run.

"Hey, Kelvoton," Maka said trying not to sound as if she was in a hurry. "Can we talk later? Me and Soul have to get to class," she said with an apologetic smile.

"No problem, I'll walk with you," Kelvoton said a little too eagerly. Soul, who stood off to the side, deduced that this guy must be in one of Maka's meister only classes.

"Okay, sure," Maka said and immediately started walking again at her straining pace. "So, Kelvoton, did you need to talk to me about something?" She asked trying to get to the point of his presence.

Kelvoton blushed and ran a hand through his hair. "Well, um, actually I was wondering if you would like to go out on a date this Friday." Soul nearly tripped at the statement. How did this skinny kid with shaggy brown hair and golden eyes expect Maka to agree to go anywhere with a kid as un-cool as him? "I mean you don't have to answer me now," Kelvoton added quickly. "In fact, don't answer me at all, Maka. Just think it over a while, okay?"

Maka closed her gaping mouth and stuttered out, "Okay, Kelvoton." It wasn't often Maka found herself the object of somebody's admiration and she found herself struggling to comprehend the situation. There had been times when she thought that maybe Soul liked her, times when he would do something uncharacteristically nice or when she would catch him staring at her for no reason. That was all just wishful thinking though, as a boy like Soul would never want such a simple girl.

"Good," he said satisfied. "We better get to our classes, huh? Bye, Maka." He turned waving over his shoulder.

Maka waved back at a loss for words before regaining her senses and saying, "Okay, bye."

Soul, who had remained silent throughout the entire exchange, looked back and forth between the two meisters trying to process what had just happened. Some kid had gotten the guts to ask Maka out, his Maka. Wait no; she wasn't his anything; nothing more than a meister and a friend. He was suddenly snapped back into reality by Maka. "Let's get to class, Soul," she said with less hostility towards him. Maka walked off down the hall replaying the conversation that just occurred in her head, looking for any hidden meanings or such. Soul fell into step with Maka; he noticed that there was something about her right then that was airy and calm. Hatred rose in him as he understood this change in his meister had been caused by somebody other than him.

~o~

Soul and Maka were now walking home to their small apartment in the sweltering Nevada heat; they had both shed any unnecessary garments in hopes of reducing the dry heats affect on their bodies with no prevail. Maka's face was calm and traced with an unspoken happiness caused by flattery. Since that morning, the young female meister had remained relatively quiet, dwelling on what she should say to answer Kelvoton. Soul found himself becoming more irritated the happier she looked. Not only was he obviously irritated because of Kelvoton. Who thought he was good enough for Maka, but also because she hadn't talked to him about what she should do. He had witnessed her talking to Tsubaki, Liz, and Patty when the boys had went to get lunch. The girls all smiled as Maka recounted the events smiling as well, if not brighter than her female companions. At the sight of this, Soul scowled and began planning a slow death for an innocent Kelvoton.

They reached the apartment and both audibly gasped at the refreshing burst of cool air that greeted them. Soul collapsed on the couch with a muffled thump, threw an askew leg on the coffee table, and crossed a long tan arm over his ruby colored eyes. Maka looked at him from her standing position by the hallway and wondered to herself. Why hadn't she talked to Soul about Kelvoton yet? Normally, he would have been the first person she went to for advice, regardless of how unhelpful she knew his advice would be. But something about his disposition following the short conversation Maka had with Kelvoton that morning prevented her from bringing it up.

"Um, Soul?" She ventured, gingerly cutting the tension hovering between them. The tension was hardly noticeable to the average passerby but Maka was acutely aware of Soul's annoyed glances and groans of impatience when she tried to speak to him throughout the day. It wasn't as if he had anything to be upset about. At one point during the day Maka had thought that perhaps he was jealous of Kelvoton. She shook this thought away and instead settled to think he was probably irritated because Friday was her day to cook and if she excepted she wouldn't be there to do.

Soul adjusted his arm so that he could look at the thin girl standing at the mouth of the hallway. Taking his movement as a sign to continue she obliged. "I'm going to go study." It wasn't entirely a lie; she just failed to mention she would also be making a pro-con list in regards to Kelvoton and his invitation. "It's your turn to make dinner."

Soul brought his arm back to its original position. "Okay," he said rather shortly. No longer being able to see his meister, he felt her presence linger before leaving the room and he cursed out loud, not loud enough for her to hear though, as it would have brought her back. He moved his hands to his eyes rubbing them in frustration. Maybe he could come up with a reason for her not to go Friday. He could fake sick or do something equally worrisome. He sat up and ran his long fingers through his silver hair. Why was he even putting so much effort into sabotaging Maka's date which she hadn't even agreed to yet? With a stroke of genius, he finally understood what he had to do! He would just convince her to turn Kelvoton down. After that, everything would go back to normal. It wasn't like he had feelings for Maka, he was just looking out for her like a good friend should when an unworthy guy came along. What was even appealing about her anyway? She was plain. With long tone legs and an amazing smile; admirable determination and a good heart. Soul dramatically slammed his head into the coffee table; he did not have feelings for Maka. He laid back down on the couch, closed his eyes, and plotted how he was going to save Maka. He felt sleep begin to over take him. In the back of his mind, he knew that if Maka caught him, she would probably yell at him and say something like, "it was his afternoon naps that caused them to be late, not to mention that it was a sign of depression." He didn't care a thin blonde hair girl with long tone legs was calling him into the bedroom of his dreams. He could always blame it on the summer heat.

~o~

Maka crossed her legs only to uncross them and cross them again. She had been repeating this movement for the last thirty or so minutes. She was seated at her desk intently staring down at the pro-con list that she was attempting to make. Under pro she had three simple words etched in her feminine strokes: Fun; in reference to the time she would have, Cute; in reference to Kelvoton, First; in reference to the fact that this would be her first ever date is she accepted. Conversely, under con she couldn't bring herself to write down any of the many reasons present in her mind as they had nothing to do with the actual situation at hand. Who cared if Soul got mad at her because that movie they wanted to see was coming out that Friday as well? All of her cons, she realized sometime ago, had a tinge of Soul to them. She knew that some part of herself felt something more than friendship for Soul even though she had long ago cast the emotion aside, refusing to attempt to understand it. Simply, she had moved past it, accepting that the scythe could never feel the same for her. She relented to herself though and under con she wrote down the only thing holding her back: Soul.

~o~

Soul woke up noticing the sun was coming through the window casting shadows in a dramatically different angle than it had been the last time he remembered being conscious. He glanced at the wall above the television reading the clock, 6:27. _Damn, _he thought as he sprang to his feet. It was his turn to cook dinner. It wasn't possible for him to make something in the next eighteen minutes. He went to the kitchen and pulled a takeout menu off the fridge deciding that Chung's Chinese Cuisine was Soul's savior this night. He went to the phone and placed the order. Fifteen minutes later, the food arrived just in time for Maka to emerge from her bedroom.

Both teens sat down across from each other at the kitchen table in borderline comfortable silence. Soul took the various food cartons out of the bags leaving it up to Maka to open them. They began dividing up the cartons onto plates Soul had gotten before sitting down.

"So, Soul," Maka began while breaking her chopsticks, "what do you think about me going out with Kelvoton this Friday?"

Soul stopped mid chew and swallowed his food. Now was his chance, he thought. It was too easy. "What do you mean?" He couldn't act to eagar, flat out saying she needed to decline.

"Well, you wouldn't be mad at me for going, would you?" She looked at him hopefully, popping a piece of food into her mouth. Upon saying this out loud, she realized that her reasoning behind not going was poorly thought out. He could just order food.

"Why would I care? It's not like I have a reason to, unless he's a bad guy." Maka looked at him, something in his tone suggested that the preceding comment was meant to hurt her.

Maka swallowed her food before continuing, "I was thinking of saying yes." She smiled. "it's not as if many guys are interested in me. Plus, Kelvoton is a really nice guy."

Soul set his chopsticks down, realizing that his opportunity was slowly slipping away. If he didn't say something soon the topic would change. "You really wanna go out with a guy as un-cool looking as that," Soul scoffed.

Maka's bottom lip protruded in a scowl, "Well, I don't know, I think he's cute..." She trailed off feeling a sense of disapproval and disdain radiating from her partner. "I like his eyes," she added shyly shifting uncomfortably in her seat but not looking away from the scythe.

Soul looked back at his miester. "I don't think you should go out with him." A look of confusion crossed Maka's face, Soul continued, "He might just use you or something. Or stand you up." Maka's confusion turned to hurt. How could he say such awful things?

Anger is what she was feeling now. "Why do you just assume he's going to use me," she demanded standing up to look down at her partner.

Something was beginning to go horribly wrong with his solid plan that had taken a total of five minutes to think up. "Whoa, Maka," he said standing. "I mean look at it this way, not a lot of guys ask you out and, well, I was just looking out for you."

"Shut up, Soul! Nobody asks me out because they assume you like me!" She fumed. Both of them knew that this statement was true though they had never discussed it before. Hearing it said aloud made it all the more real and added to the thick tension in the air.

Shock crossed Soul's face before he too was suddenly angry. "Well, they're all dumb then, only and idiot would like a flat chested, know-it-all like you!"

Maka picked up her plate and chopping Soul who immediately grabbed his head in pain and dropped to his knees. "What do you know, Soul!" She screamed. "You said earlier you didn't care so don't try to 'look out' for me."

"Calm down, Maka," Soul said trying to stand.

"Don't tell me what to do, Soul. You are so stupid!" Maka was now breathing hard and had the urge to murder. "Get out of my apartment."

"So, you're going to play that card," Soul asked sarcastically rising to his feet, "I pay half the rent you know!"

Maka picked up a still full carton of food and hurled it at the seething weapon, hitting him square in the face. The juices of its contents dripped down over his lips, down his chin and onto his shirt. "Now!"

Soul, having nothing left to say, gathered what was left of his pride and pushed past his mister and out the front door. Maka collapsed to her knees and began to cry tears of frustration. Why had he said such awful things to her? She looked up and stared at the mentally replaying scene before her deciding that, yes, she would go out on a date with Kelvoton. She didn't need Soul's approval; at least not anymore.

~o~

"Soul?" Kid asked when he opened his front door to see a disheveled Soul standing beneath the porch light of his mansion. Soul looked off into the distance not really looking at anything but trying to make the bizarre situation less bizarre.

"Hey, Kid," Soul turned to meet the misters gaze. "Maka threw me out," he said trying to sound as cool as possible because one thing was for certain, being tossed out of your own house was not cool.

Kid raised a quizzical eyebrow at his messy friend after taking in the food stained shirt and red marking on his forehead. "It looks like that's not all that she threw. Come in." He said stepping aside to let the tall weapon through. He closed the door behind and turned to Soul, who was silently glancing around rocking back and forth on his feet. Seeing that Soul wasn't going to offer up any more information, Kid took initiative. "What did you do?" He asked walking past Soul and into the large living room, seating himself in a large arm chair and nodding at the couch adjacent to it, for soul to do the same.

"Why do you assume that I did something wrong?" Soul countered following Kid into the living room and seating himself where told.

Kid interlaced his finger and rested his chin on top of them as he spoke, "If you and Maka had had an ordinary fight you would have gone to see Black Star to blow off steam, but you came here that tells me something is different this time."

Soul leaned back on the couch resting his head on the back of the black leather couch. Sometimes he forgot just how intuitive Kid really was. He smirked and sat up again, bringing his elbows to his knees and his face in his hands. "I messed up big, Kid. Maka has every right to be angry with me."

"Yes, I'm sure she does. Maka wouldn't just throw you out for just any reason," he said clarifying his choice of words. "What did you two fight about?" Kid asked shifting his position.

"She got asked out on a date today, by this guy Kelvoton," He looked up at Kid looking for some sort of recognition, Kid nodded and Soul moved on. "He's not good enough for her, so knowing this, I was trying to protect Maka. It's my duty to do that much. But, I couldn't just tell her that she should not go out with him or else," Soul paused choosing his words carefully, "she would think I have feelings for her. So, at dinner today she brought it up asking me if I would be mad if she went, so I told her I didn't care."

Kid sighed at his idiot friend. "Is that all?"

Soul made a strange throaty noise as he was reluctant to reveal to Kid what the problem had really been. "I told her nobody would ever want to go out with a 'flat chested know-it-all' like her and that the only reason somebody would ask her out is to play a mean trick on her. Basically."

Kid's jaw hung open. Even he hadn't expected it to be that bad. He regained his composure before starting to spout words of wisdom, "Soul, why isn't Kelvoton worthy of dating Maka?" Soul stared blankly at his pale friend, who, in turn, was staring at him, an all knowing gleam in his eye. Soul realized he had to real reason to think that. Kid continued knowing he had gained the upper hand, "You also said that you didn't want Maka to think you have feelings for her, but don't you?"

"No, of course not! She's my meister and friend, that's it." Soul said defensively.

Suddenly, from across the room Liz was heard, "If she's only your friend Soul then why do you stare at her all through Stein's class?"

Soul began to answer but was cut off.

"Why do you stay home when she's not feeling well, even though she can take care of herself? Why do you meet up with her after each class and walk her to the next? Why do you death glare every semi-attractive male that talks to her? Why, if she's only your friend, are you here instead of at Black Star's talking about how uptight she is?" Liz finished her series of questions.

Soul attempted to answer all of these questions individually because they each had a logical explanation. Firstly he wasn't staring at Maka, he was copying her notes because they were easier to understand. It had absolutely nothing to do with the cute way she would scrunch up her face when she was trying hard to understand a concept. He stayed home not to be with her but because she wasn't forcing him to go school. It wasn't like he enjoyed the chance to take care of her and watch her sleep as he sat there loyally, in case she needed anything. He met up with her because he had to keep away all of those semi-attractive guys who were out to hurt her. It wasn't as if he wanted her all to himself. Lastly, he was here because Black Star had been getting on his nerves lately, not because he needed Kid's level headed objective attitude to talk sense into him.

Soul finally realized that the answer, the real answer that is/was the same for each question. Almost inaudibly, Soul answered all the questions at once. "Because, I care about her more than anything in the world." Liz smiled to herself thinking she had chosen the perfect time to go to the kitchen for a snack.

Kid glanced at Liz you had perched herself on the arm of his chair before turning back to Soul. "Further more," Kid continued "she asked for your approval in regards to going out with Kelvoton. What does that tell you?"

Soul looked up wide eyed between Kid and Liz hit with a sudden realization: Maka felt the same about him, Right? He stared at Liz a moment looking for reassurance. her smile broadened and she slowly nodded her head up and down.

With out another word, Soul stood up and found his way to the door not bothering to close it behind him as he bounded down the stairs and ran through the streets of Death City, back to his little apartment hoping that Maka hadn't locked the door.

~o~

Soul burst through the door, the last remnants of the sun setting behind him. The apartment was dark only be illuminated by the setting sun. He stepped inside, closing the door behind himself with a small click.

"Maka," he called out quietly now realizing he was a little nervous to see her. The apartment was eerily still and so when Maka's door opened Soul jumped a little at the creaking noise it made. His palms began to sweat. what was he even going to say to her at this point? But it wasn't Maka that came out of her room it was the cat Blair. She looked at the weapon and lifting a paw to her muzzle signaled him to be quiet.

Blair cocked her feline head towards the kitchen which she then walked into. Soul obediently followed her, turning the corner just in time to see Blair jump onto the table and settle herself in the center curling her tail around herself. Soul took in the kitchen around him seeing that the food from earlier had been cleared away, the dishes were nowhere to be found, and any evidence that food had been thrown was erased. "Did Maka clean the kitchen?" Soul asked Blair who was purring silently to herself.

"No," Blair said eying Soul as he leaned against the counter. "I saw you leaved in a huff so I came in to see what was wrong and Maka crying on the floor being a grumpy-pants. So, I picked her up and put her to bed. When she fell asleep, I came out to clean the kitchen. After all that hard work, you guys really know how to make a mess, I went to sleep next to her and next thing I know I hear you come in," Blair finished the story with a smile.

"She was crying?" Soul asked dumbfounded. He didn't mean to make her cry and the very thought of it made him sick. He was less worthy of Maka than Kelvoton was.

"Mmmhmm," Blair said moving her head up and down slowly."She really cares about you, Soul. it's because of that, she's so hurt."Soul looked at her not quite grasping the undertone in her voice. Confusion must have been apparent in his face, so Blair continued, "Oh scythe-man you are so silly. Maka already thinks all those things about herself; it's different though when the person you're closest to says it."

Soul looked at the cat tight lipped. "Maka thinks those things about herself?" he asked desperately hoping to hear something other than what he just had. Blair jumped off the table and walked over to Soul "mmmhmmm-ing" in a high pitched voice.

Blair began to circle Soul's legs then stopped in front of him and leaned back on her haunches to look up at him. Soul stared back down at her. "You know, Soul," she said licking a paw, "I'm going to leave for a few hours to have drinks with the girls." A large cloud of smoke appeared as Blair transformed back into her human form. "Let's say if twenty of so dollars go missing from my nightstand, I won't question it Scythy-boy," Blair said poking Soul in the nose and turning on her heal to walk out the door. She opened the door to leave, only to turn back to look at Soul. "Hang a sock on the door if things go really well, will-ya?" A single drop of blood oozed from Soul's nose as the thought came to mind. Blair smiled and walked out the door.

~o~

Maka turned at the sound of her door creaking open to see soul standing there running a hand through his hair, refusing to make eye contact. In her sleepy fog, Maka wondered why her eyes hurt and her nose was stuffy only to remember the events from earlier. She quickly sat up, her movement made Soul look at her just in time to get Maka chopped by a large leather bound copy of Maka's favorite book.

"Ow, Damn it, Maka," Soul croaked from the floor.

Maka looked at him from atop her bed in kneeling position hands on her hips, "Get out ,Soul," she demanded of her weapon.

Soul looked up at his miester with pleading eyes. "Please, Maka, just listen to me."

"No. I did enough listening at dinner," she said defiantly. Though on the inside she felt a weight on her chest and her lip began to quiver as all the hurtful words came back to her, applying fresh salt to her wounds.

"Maka, I, um, have something to show you," he said standing shakily rubbing his head.

Maka thought a moment but there was something in her partners voice that, regardless of her upset, she couldn't ignore. "Fine, Soul."

Soul reached his hand out toward her, which she grudgingly took, and he led her out of the room. Soul held her hand with in his own soothingly running his thumb about her fingers. He could feel the hatred and hurt emanating in her wave length and he knew she was too upset to feel his own sorry and pathetically pleading own.

He stopped in the living room that was empty. "Soul, what happened to our furniture?"Maka asked looking around the living room confused.

"I moved all of it into the kitchen," he said leading them both to the center of the living room and sitting only then releasing Maka's hand. Maka peered into the darkness behind her, vaguely making out the outline of a couch, before Soul made a movement which shifted her attention.

Soul lit a candle between them so it was the only light illuminating the dark living room. As soon as the candle was lit, she felt a calming presence surround her. "Maka," Soul began, "I, I am really sorry that I hurt you."

Maka looked at Soul who was staring at her, waiting for her to say something anything. anger attempted to rise in her chest only to be extinguished by the calming candle. When she didn't say anything Soul continued, "I wanted to talk to you but I knew you wouldn't listen to me if you were angry so I bought this candle, it's supposed to calm all in its presence." He looked at his miester and her now serene face, wondering what she was thinking as he sat there before willing the strength for what he wanted to say.

Maka cocked her head to the side and the candle flickered. "Today, when Kelvoton asked you to go on a date with him, I was, um, I was jealous," he said looking away from Maka's emerald green eyes.

"Why would you be jealous, Soul?" she asked, anger giving away to confusion. Soul put both of his hands behind him and leaned back looking at the ceiling above them.

"So, after our fight I went to Kid's house to talk about it and while I was there, I realized that the reason I had said all those things and the reason I didn't want you to go was because," Soul stopped attempting to gather the ego to say what he needed to.

Maka, now feeling the full affect of the calming candle, crawled over to Soul to be closer to him as she now felt worried for her friend. She took his hand in hers, petting it gently as Soul sat up to look at his meister whose face was inches from his own. "Go on, Soul," Maka said unsure of what exactly to expect.

Soul couldn't say it and he cursed himself as he realized this. He was going to let this opportunity slip by him and who knew if he would ever come this close to saying it again. Soul looked at his meister who was gently stroking his hand and he decided at that second this moment would not pass him by. He extracted his hand from her grasp and brought it to her chin, gently cupping it between his thumb and forefinger, tilting her head to meet his gaze. Ash blonde hair fell about her shoulders, her eyes were puffy from crying herself to sleep, and there was just the faintest intake of breath as Soul leaned in pressing his chapped lips to her own soft pink ones.

Maka was too surprised by the scythe's sudden movement to react and froze, letting the kiss happen. Soul broke away, eyes still closed and leaned his forehead against her own, moving his hand from her chin to her hair which was soft beneath his fingers. "I realized today that I care about you more than anything in this world. I realized today that I don't ever want to hurt you and that the reason I said all of those things is because I was afraid that I would never get to do this with you."

A single tear dropped from Maka's green eyes which she quickly whipped away. "Soul, I, I um, feel," Soul silenced her by removing his hand from her hair and placing a long delicate finger to her mouth.

Hot air fell on his finger as Maka breathed. "You don't have to say anything now. The only reason you are so calm is because of the candle. I don't want to be forgiven under false pretense; I just wanted you to listen." He pulled away from Maka and looked away suddenly embarrassed, cool guys didn't get all soft like he was.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Maka move her upper body towards the candle and suddenly everything was dark. Soul felt himself get nervous all over again as the affects of the candle left him as well. Maka felt her heart begin to race and began to think that maybe without the candle she would still be mad and instantly regretted blowing it out thinking of how it could ruin this moment. Seconds passed and all she could feel was a sort of happy sadness. She looked at her weapon's silhouette and her heart jumped in her chest and she knew that angry feeling which she had been dreading would not come. She leaned over Soul So her face hovered just above his as she brought down her lips to meet Soul's.

Soul sat up straight placing his hands on her hips and guiding her onto his lap. She moaned at the sudden movement and Soul, taking the lead experimentally, pushed his tongue into Maka's mouth ready to retreat at the first sign of resistance. To his surprise though, Maka responded by moving her own tongue over her weapon's, taking in and absorbing each other's taste.

Maka pulled away from Soul, both of them panting as they recovered from the turn of events. She rested her head on Soul's, "I feel the same was too, Soul." Hearing this, Soul nuzzled into his meister's neck, planting a single kiss on her collar bone.

"Good," came his muffled response, "because I never plan on almost losing you again."

Out side on the balcony, Blair watched the tender scene before her, not needing a sufficient light source thanks to her nocturnal eyes. With a satisfied smile on her face, she turned away to look at the moon glowing in the distance, happy to see that those two had finally found the only person worthy of their souls, each other.

* * *

><p>AN: So I forgot to say this the first time I uploaded this Fic. Kelvoton is Finnish for unworthy. I thought it was cool.<p>

But there's the meaning of the fic in black and white.

Don't forget to review all of you lovely SoMa fans. :)


End file.
